5 Jul 2025, Sat

I spent weeks with the Synology DiskStation DS925+ NAS box and it didn’t miss a beat, no matter what I threw at it

I spent weeks with the Synology DiskStation DS925+ NAS box and it didn’t miss a beat, no matter what I threw at it

Why you possibly can belief TechRadar


We spend hours testing each services or products we evaluation, so that you may be positive you’re shopping for the finest. Discover out extra about how we check.

Synology DiskStation DS925+: Two-minute evaluation

Specs

(Picture credit score: Nick Ross)

CPU: AMD Ryzen V1500B
Graphics: None
RAM: 4GB DDR4 ECC SODIMM (Max 32GB)
Storage: 80TB (20TB HDD x4), 1.6TB (800GB M.2 x2)
Ports: 2x Sort-A (5Gbps), 1x Sort-C (5Gbps), 2x 2.5GbE Ethernet ports
Measurement: 166 x 199 x 223mm (6.5 x 7.8 x 8.8 inches)
OS put in: DSM 7
Equipment: 2x LAN cables, 2x drive-bay lock keys, AC energy twine

Synology has been producing community connected storage (NAS) know-how for over 20 years, and its gadgets have maintained a constant look and really feel. In that point, the firm has developed a extremely polished working system that’s packed with a vast number of bespoke and third-party apps that do the whole lot from merely backing up information on a house or workplace community, by way of managing a family’s multimedia necessities, to working a enterprise’s total IT stack. The latter contains enterprise-grade backup, all types of server performance, electronic mail and web-hosting, digital machine administration, surveillance digicam administration and a lot, way more.

In more moderen years, Synology has hunkered down in its personal section of the NAS market – eschewing broad compatibility with third-party {hardware} suppliers and a Wild-West software neighborhood in favor of a extra closed and skilled working surroundings, the place you must purchase costly Synology drives to populate the bins. Whereas these compatibility modifications have pushed some customers away, what stays remains to be an extremely sturdy, well-supported and well-documented ecosystem that has a large neighborhood following.

The brand new DiskStation DS925+ is one thing of a standard, sweet-spot measurement that may swimsuit new customers and community admins alike. At a look, it seems to be precisely like a number of generations of its predecessors and it operates very very similar to them. Its most important options embrace 4 bays that help each 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch drives and two M.2 NVMe SSD slots. Its tool-less design and easy setup wizards make it fast and simple to construct, and you may be up and working in lower than quarter-hour. It runs quietly and may be positioned on high of a desk or hidden away (in a ventilated location) discreetly. To informal customers (with deep pockets) who need entry to Synology’s apps and want solely primary NAS performance, we may cease there. Fans will need to know extra.

Synology DiskStation DS925+ close up on a desk

(Picture credit score: Nick Ross)

The listing of appropriate drives is now smaller than ever. Whereas Synology has kicked certification of third-party drives over to distributors like Seagate and WD, it doesn’t seem to have resulted in additional selection… but. At the time of writing, you’re nonetheless restricted to Synology’s newest Plus Collection client drives (which go as much as 16TB), its Enterprise drives (as much as 20TB), its 2.5-inch SSDs (as much as 7TB) and its Enterprise-level M.2 NVMe drives (as much as 800GB). All of them are significantly dearer than incompatible third-party counterparts.

By admin